English Dub Review: Tokyo Revengers: “A Cry Baby”

Overview: Takemichi’s (AJ Beckles) role within the Tokyo Manji Gang changes forever as Mikey (Aleks Le) and Hanma (Zeno Robinson) of Valhalla come to a startling decision that will cause huge ripples in the present day version of the gang. 

Our Take: As Takemichi continues to make changes to the timeline with his actions in the past, it’s constantly a guessing game as to just what those alterations will be, specifically. With Valhalla now assimilated into Toman and the big twist being that Hanagaki has now taken over Baji’s role of First Division Captain, this development shows off one of the series main strengths. In this case, it is how the consequences of time travel are constantly keeping Takemichi’s reality fresh and exciting in seeing what kind of variations will unfold in his life and/or in the lives of his friends and loved ones. It is the unpredictability of how it will remain unchanged, completely different or even both. 

But before Hanagaki is given a chance to enjoy the good changes like his present existence of being one of Toman’s top executives, the disastrous fallout that needs some fixing comes knocking hard with some new developments. These equate to the most costly repercussions creating a real sense of danger by taking out Takemichi’s safety net in his partnership with the older Naoto, taking Draken and Mikey out of the picture through an execution and disappearance, respectively, and not to mention causing strife among the current powers of the Tokyo Manji Gang with both old and new members alike. The finale also doubles down on Kisaki’s villainous role even more so with how he planned Baji’s death, kills Chifuyu and plans to do the same to Takemichi. The only downside being that he’d be a lot more menacing if the writing regarding his interrogation of Takemichi and Chifuyu wasn’t so contrived with the timeframe of the past event incessantly referenced and feeling out of place, not to mention character motivations constantly being explained out loud. This being opposed to current events that, no matter how unknown to the audience and main character in that particular timeline, would, realistically speaking, be more appropriate and timely. While the cliffhanger of Takemichi “dying” doesn’t necessarily instill fear as it’s unlikely he will meet his demise in such a way that isn’t more conclusive and/or emotional. It does, however, leave one with immense anticipation for just how Hanagaki will get out of his current life-or-death situation at Kiseki’s hands for the next season as well as change Hinata and Chifuyu’s grim fate.